The Big Tour was the second concert tour by English pop duo Wham!, launched in support of their multi-platinum second studio album Make It Big, which sold over six million units in the US alone. The tour spanned 4 months between December 1984 and April 1985, comprising 39 shows across the UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia, United States, Hong Kong and China. Wham! made history in China and achieved worldwide publicity by being the first Western pop act to visit the country.

Overview

The Big Tour opened at Whitley Bay Ice Rink on 4 December with an audience of around 5,500. The venue was small due to no other venues being available in the north east, they were booked for two more shows between concerts in Glasgow, Dublin and Leeds. Just as the UK portion of the tour was in its stride, George Michael hurt his back during a performance and the band had to cancel five consecutive shows which were put back until February and March. They continued the UK leg with shows in Wembley Arena during the Christmas period to around 50,000 fans during which "Last Christmas" reached number two on the UK Singles Chart.

The new year began the tour in Japan performing in the Fukuoka Sunpalace with other dates in Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo and Yokohama. In Australia, five shows followed in Melbourne and Sydney before continuing in the United States, with a sellout concert at the Palladium in front of 4,400 in February 1985. Wham! returned to the United Kingdom with earlier dates having been rescheduled.

Following a month break, the tour resumed in Hong Kong on 2 April 1985. The 10-day visit to China was the first by a Western pop group. The excursion was a publicity scheme devised by Simon Napier-Bell (one of their two managers—Jazz Summers being the other). It began with a concert at the Peoples' Gymnasium in Beijing (then Peking) in front of 13,000 people. They also played a concert in front of 5,000 in Canton. The two concerts were played without compensation. Wham!'s visit to China attracted huge media attention across the world. Napier-Bell later admitted that he sabotaged the efforts of British rock band Queen to be the first to play in China. He made two brochures for the Chinese authorities – one featuring Wham! fans as pleasant middle-class youngsters, and one portraying Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in typically flamboyant poses. The Chinese opted for Wham!.

Recordings A documentary film was shot over two weeks in April and edited over summer and autumn 1985 in London. The whole China visit was documented by British film director Lindsay Anderson and producer Martin Lewis in their film Wham! in China: Foreign Skies released in 1986. The first ever public viewing of Foreign Skies was shown on large video screens on Saturday 28 June 1986 at the farewell show "The Final".

Support acts DJ Gary Crowley Pepsi & Shirlie DJ Neil Fincham

Set list

Japan "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" "Club Tropicana" "Blue" "Heartbeat" "Credit Card Baby" "If You Were There" "Like a Baby" "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" "Freedom" "Careless Whisper" "Young Guns (Go for It)" Encore "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" "Last Christmas"

Beijing, China "Bad Boys" "Club Tropicana" "Blue" "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" "A Ray of Sunshine" "Young Guns (Go for It)" "Careless Whisper" "Everything She Wants" "Like a Baby" "If You Were There" "Love Machine"

Tour dates +List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country Venue Europe 4 December 1984 Whitley Bay England Ice Rink 5 December 1984 Glasgow Scotland Apollo 6 December 1984 8 December 1984 Dublin Ireland R.D.S. 9 December 1984 11 December 1984 Whitley Bay England Ice Rink 12 December 1984 14 December 1984 Leeds Queens Hall 15 December 1984 Edinburgh Scotland Ingliston 17 December 1984 Bournemouth England International Centre 18 December 1984 19 December 1984 Birmingham N.E.C. 20 December 1984 23 December 1984 London Wembley Arena 24 December 1984 26 December 1984 27 December 1984 Asia 8 January 1985 Fukuoka Japan Fukuoka Sunpalace 10 January 1985 Osaka Festival Hall 11 January 1985 Gymnasium 13 January 1985 Nagoya Civic Assembly Hall 16 January 1985 Tokyo Budokan 17 January 1985 Yokohama Gymnasium 18 January 1985 Tokyo Budokan Oceania 22 January 1985 Melbourne Australia Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre 23 January 1985 24 January 1985 26 January 1985 Sydney Sydney Entertainment Centre 27 January 1985 North America 4 February 1985 Los Angeles United States Palladium 5 February 1985 Oakland Kaiser Convention Center 7 February 1985 Dallas Bronco Bowl 13 February 1985 Philadelphia Tower Theatre 14 February 1985 New York City Beacon Theatre 16 February 1985 Boston Orpheum Theatre Europe 23 February 1985 Edinburgh Scotland Ingliston Royal Highland 26 February 1985 Birmingham England N.E.C. 27 February 1985 1 March 1985 Bournemouth Bournemouth International Centre 2 March 1985 Asia 2 April 1985 Hong Kong British Dependent Territory Coliseum 3 April 1985 7 April 1985 Beijing China Workers' Gymnasium 10 April 1985 Canton Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall +Key ShowDenotes cancelled concert dates that were rescheduled.

Box office score data Venue City Attendance Gross PalladiumLos Angeles 4,400 / sellout$57,402Henry J. Kaiser Convention CenterOakland, California 7,182 / sellout $97,032Bronco Bowl Dallas / $The Tower Philadelphia2,971 / sellout $36,565Beacon Theatre New York City / $Orpheum TheatreBoston / $ Total/$

Personnel As printed in the official tour programme.

George Michael & Andrew Ridgeley Gary Crowley – Crowd DJ (Guest Star) Tommy Eyre – M.D. & Keyboards Trevor Murrell – Drums Deon Estus – Bass Hugh Burns – Guitars Mark Fisher – Keyboards Danny Cummings – Percussion Paul Spong – Trumpet Dave 'Baps' Baptiste – Saxophone Raul D'Oliviera – Trumpet Leroy Osbourne – Vocals Janey Hallett – Vocals Janet Mooney – Vocals Shirlie Holliman – Dancer Pepsi DeMacque – Dancer Simon Napier-Bell – Management Jazz Summers – Management

Jake Duncan – Tour Manager Ken Watts – Production Manager Dave Davis – Guitars & Keyboards Richard "Dikka" Jones – Drums & Percussion Tony Blanc – Sound Engineer John Roden – Monitor Engineer John 'Judge' Loudon – Lighting Engineer Ross Balfour – Staging Russell Sparks – Staging Lesley Morrall – Wardrobe Yioda Panayiotou – Wardrobe Melanie Panayiotou – Make-up & Hairdressing Dave Moulder – Personal Security Ronnie Franklin – Personal Security Connie Filippello – Press & P.R. Mike Putland – Photographer Mr & Mrs. Panos Mrs. Jenny Ridgeley Mrs. Tommy Eyre Ms. Debbie Sweeny

Notes

References